Ammons, A. R.

Ammons, A. R. (Archie Randolph Ammons), 1926–2001, American poet, b. Whiteville, N.C., grad. Wake Forest College (1949). He began writing poetry while serving in the Navy during World War II, and, after working as a school principal and sales executive, he taught creative writing (1964–71) at Cornell. His second book of poetry, Expressions of Sea Level (1964), established him as a major American poet and exhibited his characteristic tone and themes: conversational free verse that frequently deals with the interrelationship of human beings and nature in a modern echo of transcendentalism . His other books of poetry include Tape for the Turn of the Year (1965), Collected Poems 1951–1971 (1972, National Book Award), Sphere (1974, Bollingen Prize), Garbage (1993, National Book Award), Glare (1996), and the posthumously published Bosh and Flapdoodle (2005).